The young man fell to his knees and the phone tumbled out of his hands and hit the ground with a low thud. A voice still slipped from the speaker but he didn't hear it. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he felt his throat thicken. Tears slowly began to fall down his cheeks and he made no attempt to wipe them away.
He could feel the pain that tore through his chest. His breaths came in rapid pants that pained his aching heart. He could feel his heart slowly breaking as his tears fell faster in succesion. The horrible truth sunk into his very core as he heard the words that had spilled from the phone repeat in his mind. Nothing could stop the agony that played along the edges of his heart as he heard the words over and over.
"Gerard?"
He heard the voice in a distant part of his mind but he paid it no attention. Nothing could reach him here, nothing could reach him in this place of pain and sadness.
"Gee?!"
He could hear the fear and alarm in the voice but he didn't move from his place on the floor. He felt that if he tried the overwhelming sadness would just pull him back down, acting as a force stronger than gravity. Then his brother was kneeling beside him, his hand placed upon his shoulder.
"Gee! What happened?"
Trembles shook the younger boy's voice as he urged his older brother to speak with him. He gently shook the older man and stared with wide eyes as he moved his mouth but no sound slipped past his lips.
"Gerard, just tell me what happened?"
"Grandma Elena."
That was all that he could get out before his voice failed him again. His voice that usually came out with such an angelic tone was shaking as he cried.
"What? What's wrong with...." The younger trailed off as realization stuck him. "Oh, no."
He shook his head, trying to dispel the horrible though. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't. Their Grandma couldn't be...
No, he couldn't even bring himself to think it.
"Mikey, she.."
Again his voice died.
"No Gerard," his voice was surprisingly steady as he tried to deny the truth. "No...It can't be true."
Mikey bowed his head and clenched his eyes shut as he felt tears begin to flood them. He heard Gerard's soft sobs and knew that no matter how much he tried to deny it, the truth would always linger. He just didn't want to face it.
"It is Mikey," Gerard whimpered, "It is."
Again, Mikey shook his head. He might try to deny it but he couldn't. Not with Gerard sitting beside him with tears in his eyes and the pain in his voice. There was no denying the sorrow that flooded every single inch of Gerard's heart. That was just something that you could never change.
"I know," Mikey murmured, gently pulling Gerard into a hug. "I know."
He heard Gerard sniffle and his own tears began to stream down his face.There was no refusing the pain that settled in his heart.
Gerard could feel Mikey gently shaking as they wrapped each other in a tight hug. He felt the tears that soaked his face and dripped onto Mikey's sweater.
The pain that settled in their hearts and swirled in their thoughts was just something that no one could ever change, something that no one could ever try to deny. The pain that they felt was something they would always remember.
"She died."
Gerard's broken whisper hung in the air as the two brothers kneeled on the floor and let their sadness slip down their faces in small crystal like tears.